Lotus Esprit V-8 Engine Development: Video

The new Lotus is building a new V-8 engine, in part to power its upcoming Lotus Esprit, due in 2013. Reported to generate up to 570 horsepower, the new Lotus V-8 is being built from scratch, completely in-house, a move which Lotus characterizes as big and brave decision.

The motivation is to be "pure Lotus," and that requires building not just the chassis, but the engine, according to the new mandate--though fans of the Toyota-powered Elise and Exige models might disagree with that somewhat.

Whichever side of the Lotus fence you're on, you have to admit, the promise of the new Esprit is tantalizing. A return to the Lotus supercars of old, through a modern lens of design, performance, and (hopefully) reliability would be a welcome challenge to the current Italian, German, and occasionally American or Japanese status quo.